The All Seeing Eye
by avenged
Summary: SasuSaku, MadaSaku. "Tell me, Sasuke-kun: what do you see with your Sharingan?" And so the end begins, and no matter how hard he tries, he can't change what now lays before him.
1. The Seer

**A/N: **So I sat down to finish the next chapter of _Anticlimax_. Then I remembered it was Saturday, and therefore the newest chapter of Naruto would be up. So I decided to read that first.

And, well, here I am, still stuck on that.

Madara equals love.

So let's see how badly I can mess with him.

**Title:** The All-Seeing Eye

**By:** avenged, Ria, hey you

**Summary:** "Tell me, Sasuke-kun: what do you see with your Sharingan?" And so the end begins, and no matter how hard he tries, he can't change what now lays before his eyes.

**Genre:** Action, drama, angst, romance, black humor…I prefer the term "awesomeness" myself.

**Rating:** M for language, violence, and sexual encounters. Some will be twisted. You have been given a fair warning.

**Further warnings:** Spoilers through chapter 396, convoluted plotlines, my incredibly limited knowledge of Japanese, etc.

**Disclaimer:** Nope. I own nothing.

**Enjoy.**

* * *

**Konoha**

**12 November 2014**

**2:34 PM**

BY ORDER OF THE DEKAIKAGE

SASUKE UCHIHA HAS BEEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR VARIOUS CRIMES AGAINST THE EMPIRE, THESE CRIMES BEING NUMEROUS IN NUMBER AND SINISTER IN NATURE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO MURDER, ATTEMPTED MURDER, THEFT, AND CIVIL DEFAMATION. THE HANGING SHALL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW.

THE DEKAIKAGE WISHES YOU A PLEASANT DAY.

Naruto swore under his breath as he read the announcement. Sasuke didn't deserve this. None of them did. Standing on the corner, his chakra carefully masked and his identity carefully disguised with a jutsu, he felt like the hot sun was a huge eye scrutinizing his every move. He felt that, even though the jutsu was securely in place, everyone who walked by could see him for who he was. It was a terrible feeling, standing there. Yet he had to do it. He didn't know where the others were, but if he wanted any hope of saving them, he had to keep the act going.

_Thud_.

A rock fell in the alley behind him. He turned swiftly, one arm across his face, the other reaching for a kunai. Slowly, like a snail, he tiptoed across the sidewalk and ducked into the alley. It was empty.

Naruto tilted his head upward. Clotheslines were strung between the roofs of the two buildings forming the tight alley. Old newspaper blew across the packed dirt in the dry breeze. He rapped his knuckles on the lid of a tin trashcan. No response.

"You really shouldn't be standing there in the open."

He whipped around, his teeth clenched in frustration. He reached out, felt for the familiar pulse of chakra, but his opponent masked it well. _Shit._

"Listen," he grunted in a whisper, "if you're going to kill me, you had better get on with it."

A puddle appeared suddenly in the dusty ground in front of him, his face mirrored in it. Suddenly, the water shifted, and his reflection's cheekbones rose, his hair turned gray, and his left eye disappeared completely.

"Kakashi," he breathed.

The jounin rose out of the puddle and faced the blonde, who quickly released his jutsu and regained his normal appearance. "Thank God I finally found someone. I've been searching all around town. There's a large concentration of chakra at the stadium, but trying to go in there alone would be suicide."

"Hmm," Naruto mused. "It always seemed to me that you were fairly suicidal."

Kakashi chuckled, then tensed, his body bending reflexively into a crouching position. His knees bent, he sniffed the air.

"Do you…" he began.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "We're not safe here."

"They must be able to sense us." Kakashi swore. "If we use chakra, we'll just give away our position."

"Then we'll do this the old fashioned way," Naruto declared. He turned sharply on his heel and began to run. Kakashi followed.

"The air currents have changed," Kakashi told Naruto as they sprinted down the backways of Konoha. "We're being followed."

"There's an easy way to take care of that," Naruto said, "but it would be like setting off an alarm."

Just as he spoke those words, a bell let off a long toll. The sound resonated throughout the air.

Kakashi's eyes widened. "It's the death toll. There's going to be an execution."

Naruto skidded to a stop as realization dawned. "But nothing was scheduled for today…"

Kakashi's heart was like a bomb in his chest. "Sasuke." He immediately turned, the muscles in his legs tensing as he prepared to leap to the rooftops.

Naruto caught him by the back of his shirt, pulling him forcefully to a stop. "No. It's a trap. Madara knows we're here. He's moved the hanging up to draw us out."

Kakashi panted heavily. "We can't just abandon Sasuke."

"No," Naruto admitted, shaking his head. "But we can't abandon ourselves either."

"Then what the hell," Kakashi cursed, "are we going to do?"

**xXx**

**The All-Seeing Eye**

**--Chapter 1-- **

"_**What do you see with your Sharingan…Sasuke…kun?"**_

**xXx**

**Uzumaki Residence**

**5 April 2013**

**7:04 AM**

_BOOM._

Uzumaki Naruto sat up with a start, loudly cursing whoever had been rude enough to awaken him on a Saturday morning. His wife stirred lazily next to him, her eyes fluttering open, and she groaned at the unexpected interruption in her sleep.

"Naruto…" she moaned.

"Shh, Hina," he said gently, stroking her hair. "Go back to sleep. I'll find out who that was, rip their limbs off, and join you as soon as I can."

_BOOM._

_Damnit,_ Naruto cursed. _If it's one of my ninja, so help me God, I will put them on D-rank babysitting missions with the most demonic little kids I can find for a month…_

A sharp knock to his front door brought the young Rokudaime out of his thoughts and sharply into reality. Swearing under his breath, he fished around on the floor for a shirt, threw it on, stumbled downstairs, and threw open his front door to find a very ragged, very pissed Hyuuga Neji.

"Uzumaki," Neji said coldly, "what the _hell_ is going on?"

Naruto shook himself completely awake and tried to glare at Neji; glaring was a skill he had yet to fully master. "What makes you think _I_ know, of all people?"

"I don't know," Neji said haughtily, folding his arms. "Maybe it's because you're the Hokage, and as such, it remains your responsibility to know what is going on in the village."

_BOOM._

Naruto resisted the urge to strangle the Hyuuga, remembering that if the crashes in the distance were an outside attack (and he really, really hoped that they weren't; it was a Saturday and he wasn't doing anything until after noon, damnit), killing his top ANBU captain wouldn't be in his best interests.

"Neji," he grunted through clenched teeth, "the noise woke me up—literally—two minutes ago. I have had no time to figure out anything, though I assure you that I'm as anxious to find out who interrupted my sleep as you are. Give me a couple seconds to grab my weapons pouch, and I'll work on the noise problem, okay?"

And without another word, Naruto turned around, slammed the door in Neji's face, and went to make himself a cup of tea.

_Arrogant Hyuuga bastard…_

After Sasuke's departure, Naruto had taken the place of Neji's least favorite person. Not only had the blonde gained a position Neji hardly thought him qualified for, but he had also married his cousin. Though they were all in their twenties now, the stoic Hyuuga remained fiercely protective of Hinata.

_("There will be absolutely NO baby-making, Uzumaki, or anything remotely resembling baby-making or that could possibly lead, no matter how indirectly, to baby-making. Understand?")_

_BOOM._

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Naruto took the hot water off of the stove and flung open the window above the sink, figuring that despite his anger at being awoken, there was some truth in what Neji said: he had better find out who was making all the noise—and fast. If his gut instincts were right and the booming signaled an attack, he was rapidly losing time.

Still, he hoped for the best.

"SAKURA!" he yelled out the window. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT SEVEN IN THE MORNING IS NOT THE TIME TO PRACTICE PUNCHING THINGS?"

"IDIOT!" Sakura yelled back from her neighboring apartment. "I WAS SLEEPING! BE LIKE THE REST OF THE SANE WORLD AND GO TO BED! I SWEAR, YOU'LL HAVE MORE FUN THERE ANYWAY!"

_Suspicion #1: Nope._

Naruto sighed and climbed out the window, avoiding the main streets and consequently avoiding Neji. He masked his chakra more out of habit than a need for actual protection and headed towards where the commotion was coming from.

_BOOM._

Today was not going to be a good day.

* * *

**Akatsuki Hideout**

**29 March 2013**

**5:56 PM**

"Is it true?"

"It can't be…"

"I saw the body, you idiots. Uchiha Itachi is dead."

"Never. He wouldn't allow himself…"

"Ha. Bastard finally got too cocky."

"Shut up, all of you."

"I hope there isn't any paperwork involved…"

_Tap._

"This could get very messy for us…"

"Didn't Madara take the boy?"

_Tap._

"Supposedly."

"Wonder why."

"Who knows what the wacko's up to now."

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

"Are you all done now?"

The Akatsuki turned to see Uchiha Madara perched like a hawk on the back of a chair at the far end of the room. He jumped down, causing everyone else to abruptly sit. Effortlessly, the Uchiha legend imposed silence, order, and a persisting chill that no one was quite able to explain.

"As for your questions, it is, it can, he is, he did, good idea, your priorities are seriously misguided, Pein, not if you all be quiet, I did, I'll tell you, and maybe you'd find out if you actually listened. Satisfied?"

All seven heads nodded rapidly.

"All right, then." Madara took his seat, and the others automatically slunk down a little in their chairs. "As Zetsu told you, Itachi is dead by the hands of his younger brother. Before you barrage me with questions, no, I do not think Sasuke is more powerful than Itachi. Does he have the potential to become so? More than any of you could possibly imagine. But I believe that in this case, Itachi sacrificed himself for some…_greater cause_."

The temperature dropped several degrees. No one said a word. Madara smirked and spoke, his voice soft yet more penetrating than the sharpest katana.

"He was trying to protect his brother.

"_From me_."

Madara chuckled, apparently finding this idea funny. Konan gave a small smile. Everyone else, however, felt that expressing amusement—though they found nothing amusing—would get them a kunai in their throats. The Uchiha exuded a killing intent that not even Itachi could match, and if anything, they all felt that Itachi was very justified in trying to protect his brother, even if he supposedly hated him, from whatever Madara intended to do.

"Futile attempt, of course," the raven-haired man continued, standing up and beginning to pace. "I've brought Sasuke here, and he's currently sleeping in my chambers. Somewhat shook up, as you might imagine. Let him be…for now. Regardless, we now have another matter at hand. With Deidara dead, three members still recuperating from their treatments, and now the whole mess with Itachi, we're rapidly losing manpower. Solving this will require in part a little…oh, let's call it _friendly recruitment_. However, one potential member has already presented herself, and I have deemed her ready to fully join the organization.

"This person has worked as my spy for many years. She has infiltrated Orochimaru's lair and provided valuable information about his operations. She has kept track of people of great interest to us and gently lead them in desirable directions. Her skills are invaluable to this organization, and her loyalty has earned her the right to prove herself as a full member."

For the first time, the rest of the Akatsuki noticed a slim figure standing in the corner. There was a deadly grace to her posture, a pernicious edge to her motions as she approached the table. She walked smoothly, her skirt making the slightest swishing noises around her hips, her chopped hair hiding her eyes, and as she turned to face them, her lips pulled into a razor-sharp smile.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Madara said with a grin, "let me present Riyaku Karin."

* * *

**Citadel**

**12 November 2014**

**2:45 PM**

"My lord, they are approaching," said the servant to his master. "Do you…"

"No," the cloaked figure said, raising a hand in protest. "I know those two well. Leave them be. They will come, and I will crush them as easily as I crushed their village. They will come, and I will defeat them as I did before. They will come, and I will show them how I have taken their world and twisted it into a playground for my greatest fantasies. Now, bring me my toy."

"Yes, master," said the servant, and he slipped away into the shadows.

The man leaned back in his chair, a smirk dancing across his face. How beautiful, he thought, to play a game where you make all the rules.

His servant returned, dragging behind him a girl bound tightly in chakra-absorbing chains. She raised her eyes to meet his, and in her green orbs was a fiery defiance, a burning hatred her small body could barely possess.

He grinned.

"What fun shall we have today…

"_Sakura_?"

* * *

**I wonder who that mysterious man could be…**

**Reviews, as always, are appreciated.**


	2. The Playwright

**A/N:** I am SPEED. (Yes, this is a fast update. Shush.)

Clearing up confusion:

A _dekaikage_, literally, means "huge kage". This is, of course, not the effect I was going for, but my limited knowledge of Japanese, well, limits me. The word I really want there is "supreme". If you happen to know the word for "supreme", kindly enlighten me.

I've gotten several comments saying that the plotline is confusing. It's _supposed_ to be. Personally, I find straightforward stories boring and predictable…so I don't write them. Four distinct plotlines will soon emerge; these will merge into two and then finally into one. Times and dates are provided to help understand the chronology. If it's still bothering you a few chapters later, ask me or _don't read it_. Kapeesh?

**Thank-yous go to:** Ali871, animeaddict19, haliz, kattylin, cherrilatina, Uchiha Sakura-sama, man-chan, uchihagreeneyebaby19, TimDrakeFanatic, Xxdoctorwho28fanxX, Oyuki, All The Good PenNames Are Gone, ihkny, selenaxnaruto, Suna Babe, pierrotz, and l1t0d4rkd0ggy.

And, without further ado…

**Warnings:** Language, sex, and other things not fit for children.

**Disclaimer: **Most people only write these so their stories have more words. I write them because I think I'm funny. And because I really, really don't own Naruto, and I really, really don't like lawsuits. That is all.

**On a final note:** KIBA. Because Annie reminded me how much I love him. So I gave him his own scene.

* * *

**Hokage Tower**

**5 April 2013**

**7:26 AM**

_BOOM._

"Spit it out, Kiba!"

The brown-haired man shuffled his feet and stared at the ground, refusing to meet the eyes of the other ninja in the room. Gathered there were Konoha's finest jounin, all having been grudgingly awakened and summoned to Naruto's office by the very loud, very caffeine-deprived blonde. Kakashi yawned, stretching lazily. Sakura tried her best to look interested. Genma fell asleep in the corner. Ino attempted to avoid looking at Shikamaru, who had had to be forcibly dragged to Hokage Tower and consequently had not had the opportunity to put a shirt on.

"Kiba…" Kurenai began.

"Fine!" he burst out, causing Akamaru to jump at his side. "If you really want to know, I'll tell you. But you're not going to like what you hear."

Naruto nodded gravely. "Continue."

Kiba cracked his neck, took a deep breath, and began. "Okay. I was on watch duty at the front gates this morning, and let me tell you, Saturday morning watch absolutely _sucks_, there's never anything to do…"

"KIBA!"

"All right, all right, I'm getting there," Kiba said, letting out a very annoyed sigh. "Keep your pants on. Please. Anyway, normally it's boring as hell. But not this morning. I'm drowsing off, trying to keep one eye open in case something goes wrong, and suddenly there's this loud boom. I sit up, figuring it's Lee out proving his powers of youthfulness again, and I get ready to shout a long string of curses down at him. But then I hear it again, and I listen more carefully this time. It's too far away to be Lee. It's too far away to be any of our shinobi, in fact."

Everyone leaned in, fully awake and listening intently. Kiba's voice had dropped, and now he spoke in a hushed whisper, as though whatever was quickly approaching the village might hear what he said.

"I'm curious now, so I stand up and look out to the west, out towards the forests, and hope with everything I've got in me that it's just a bunch of genin out having a little too much fun."

He swallowed.

"But it's not."

He fell silent, his eyes flickering nervously towards the window behind Naruto's desk. In the distance, he could make out the faintest hint of smoke, and when he sniffed the air, he caught the whiff of a scent he wished he weren't so familiar with.

Blood.

"It's a snake."

**xXx**

**The All-Seeing Eye**

**--Chapter 2--**

"_**All the world's a stage, and all men merely players. Me? I write the script."**_

**xXx**

**Konoha**

**12 November 2014**

**2:47 PM**

Konoha Stadium rose in the distance, the blood-red sun casting a crimson glow over the pale marble. Tattered flags on the ramparts snapped in the harsh wind. Far larger than any of the surrounding buildings, the stadium imposed an air of stone-cold dominance and power upon the village.

_It is there that my life as a true shinobi began_, Naruto thought. _And it is there that it will end_.

"The last time I was there," Kakashi said quietly as he ran, zipping like a well-thrown kunai from rooftop to rooftop, "was for the last set of Jounin exams. I was a proctor."

"The last time I was there," Naruto replied, "was for the first round of executions."

Kakashi said nothing. He only hastened his pace, the distant sounds of drunken cheering reaching his ears.

Madara was quick. Oh yes. He was very quick.

Naruto bristled as a gust of wind hit them, sending sand and gravel ripping across their faces. He pulled his hitai-ate down over one of his eyes, not noticing how much he now resembled his former sensei.

All he saw was the stadium, growing closer and closer as he flew above the desolate city, his sandals kicking up dust, sullying his already-ragged clothes.

Kakashi suddenly slid to a halt, his body bending reflexively into attack position. Naruto followed suit, his senses picking up what his partner must have already noticed.

Another presence was approaching. Fast.

"Strong," Kakashi muttered. "Akatsuki-level chakra…or rather, it would be that level if they existed anymore."

Naruto scanned the rooftops, his eyes searching frantically for a glimpse of something that stood out against the brown haze. Clotheslines flapped wildly, a flock of crows soared overheard, the dust blew and blew—but no attacker.

And then, almost imperceptibly, he caught a flash of bright blue out of the corner of his eye.

"Kakashi!"

Both shinobi ducked, their bodies twisting to avoid a sudden onslaught of shuriken from their right. Kakashi fell to the ground, his legs tensed, his fingers fishing for any weapon he might have on his person. Naruto swerved but was not quick enough; a shuriken caught him in the shoulder, and he winced as the sharp metal drove into his skin.

Only it wasn't metal…

_Paper._

"Pray tell," said a new voice, feminine yet razor-edged, "what two former Konoha shinobi are doing out in the open at a time like this?"

Naruto growled. "Konan."

The tall woman in question materialized in front of him, her finger lifting his chin to meet her emotionless eyes. "Why hello, Kyuubi."

She still wore her Akatsuki cloak, the red clouds on the black silk standing in sharp contrast to her neon hair. Delicate pins held the blue locks in place, long bangs framing her face and shrouding her icy eyes. A ray of sunlight glinted off of her lip piercing. The overall effect was one of deadly beauty, the kind that graced a well-made katana before it was stained red with blood.

Yet Kakashi had no eyes for the former Akatsuki. All he saw was the blood seeping from the wound in Naruto's shoulder.

Konan turned sharply, her eyes meeting Kakashi's, and she nodded towards the blonde's wound. "The Shinigami will be here soon. The smell of it attracts them like flies."

She fixed one of her hairpins and faced the stadium, a staunch determination in her stance. "You had better hurry if you want to save him. Madara will move the moment you come within range. There will be no easy way in once he senses you."

Though he could not see her face, Naruto sensed the smirk playing across her lips.

"That is, unless you had someone there who knew the Uchiha like the back of her hand. Someone who worked under him for years. Someone who knows his idiosyncrasies, his desires, his final plans."

And suddenly, ice blue met dark cerulean, and he was sure that he had never seen eyes so defiant.

"Someone who knows a back way in."

"Why," Naruto said tensely, his hand clenching his shoulder in an attempt to stop the bleeding, "are you offering to help us? What's to keep me from killing you right here, right now?"

Like that, she was behind him, her hand fisted in his hair, the sharp blade of a kunai at his neck. Kakashi froze, his hand searching his empty weapons pouch in vain.

"I know you're smarter than you look, Kyuubi, so pay attention," she whispered in his ear. "You have no weapons on you. You won't use your chakra because it'd be like sending Madara a calling card. You desperately want to save your friend, but frankly you've got more bravado than brains, and you really have no idea what you're going to do once you get there. Your friend the copy-nin over there knows no better than you. Face it, Kyuubi: you _need_ me. You need an insider. Here I am, freely offering you my services. Are you _really_ going to turn them down?"

"What we need," Kakashi grunted, "is someone we can trust. And I know you're not here on a whim of goodwill. You've got your own agenda. If we weren't necessary to your goals, you would've turned us to dust by now. So tell me, Konan. What is it, really, that you want?"

For a moment, he thought he saw a flash of sorrow in her eyes, so fleeting that he couldn't be sure if it wasn't just a figment of his hopeful imagination. Konan released Naruto and shoved the kunai back in the folds of her robe. "Let's just say I have some…unfinished business."

She tensed suddenly. "I can feel them. Shinigami. Six o'clock. About a mile off, but they move like hawks."

Sure enough, Naruto could make them out in the distance: black dots streaking from balcony to balcony, their movements never faltering, their formation tight and unwavering, like an arrow coming straight to strike him from behind.

"Fine," he said.

Kakashi started, alarm clearly showing in his one visible eye. "What?"

"Fine," Naruto repeated. "Take us to the stadium. Show us your secret passage. But if you screw us over…well, I'll unleash the biggest Rasengan you've ever seen, and if that doesn't kill you, the chakra signals it sends out will get Madara to finish the job."

Konan nodded sharply, completely ignoring Naruto's death threat. "Good. Let's move."

And like lightning, they were gone.

* * *

**Citadel**

**12 November 2014**

**2:46 PM**

Sakura remained silent as Madara approached her slowly, his eyes lingering on where her shirt fell open, exposing the top of her breasts. His Sharingan were spinning wildly, turning a deeper and deeper scarlet with each step that he advanced. She knew that look well: lust, desire, _longing_.

She would bleed in the morning.

He grabbed at her shirt and pulled her forward so her forehead tapped lightly against his, forcing her eyes to stare into the scarlet depths of his Mangekyou.

"Hello, flower," he murmured, his lips on her earlobe, nibbling softly on the delicate flesh. "Mmm. You always taste so…_sweet_."

She could feel his arousal pressing hard against her thigh and the heat rising in her cheeks.

_No._

_I control my body. No one else. _

_He will get no satisfaction out of me today._

"Ah," he breathed, hot air tickling her ear. "Playing tough today, _Sakura-chan_? Marvelous. I like my women feisty."

He hooked his thumbs in the top of her skirt and practically ripped it off of her, leaving her in nothing but a shirt three sizes too big and a tiny pair of white panties.

He nearly growled at the sight.

"You have much fire in you, flower," he said softly, his hands slowly making their way underneath her shirt. "It's admirable. Here you are, completely at my mercy…" He traced the chakra-draining seal on her stomach, the touch of his fingers light and caressing, so out of character and so unlike him that it made Sakura have to fight not to arch her body into his touch.

She was in control of her body…but he was in control of _her_.

"…and yet you still resist me. Some would find such resistance honorable. I suppose you think you are being honorable, Sakura-chan?"

She gasped as cold air hit between her legs, her underwear now tangled around her ankles.

"I suppose you are saving yourself for _him_, aren't you, flower?"

His fingers tightened around her wrist, forcing her hand to rest on the bulge in his pants. She wriggled frantically, but his hold on her was made of iron, and her squirming only served to excite him further.

"I will taint you."

His other hand found her breast, fingers clenching and unclenching around the fleshy mound.

_No…I will not satisfy him…_

"I will blacken your heart."

His mouth was on hers, ravishing her lips as he bit hungrily at her lips, pleading with her to let his tongue inside.

_I will not moan for him…_

"I will stain your soul."

His hand had left her breast and was trailing down the flat plane of her stomach, stopping to tug playfully at her curls.

_I will not scream his name…_

"And when I am through with you…"

Slyly, he slipped two fingers inside her folds, rubbing and stretching her walls. Waves of pleasure shot through her, her teeth drawing blood from her tongue as she fought to hold back the groan welling up in her throat.

_I will not…_

"…not one shred of innocence will remain."

_I will not…I will not…I will not I will notIwillnotnevernevernevernever…_

Sakura let out a small mewl.

Madara grinned, pumping his fingers deeper inside of her. She was slick with sweat, tremors racking her form every few seconds.

She may hate him…but her body did not lie.

"Not one shred."

* * *

**Akatsuki Hideout**

**29 March 2013**

**10:47 PM**

"I hope Zetsu eats her."

He smirked, tightening his grip on her shoulders and pulling her closer to him. "Konan, Zetsu's the messiest fucking eater in the world. There would be blood and guts and shit everywhere and it would _never_ get cleaned up."

Konan rolled her eyes. "You're so subtle." She folded her arms, grunting. "Honestly, why does he need _her_? If he wants someone for seduction missions, then I'd be more than happy to do them…"

"…because you're tired of me?" he asked playfully, batting his eyelashes at her.

"Don't do that," she growled, swatting half-heartedly at his amused face. "You look like a girl when you do that."

"But I'd make a pretty hot girl, wouldn't I?" he continued.

She sighed and turned away from him, burying her face in the pillow. "You're impossible."

He nuzzled against her side, burying his face in her vibrant hair and inhaling her scent. She smelled of orchids, fire, and blood. It was a strangely erotic combination, one that made him tingle ever so slightly when she passed him, one that made him sense the woman beneath the cold-blooded killer he had come to know.

"Konan-chan," he said softly in her ear, "I have no fucking idea what Madara's planning. Nobody does. Hell, I doubt even Pein knows what the asshole's up to, and it was his decision to…"

"Exactly, and what happened then?" Konan said suddenly, a deadly edge to her voice. "Pein's arrogance will be the death of him. He thinks he's in control. He thinks he's some kind of god that can just play with us like puppets. He thinks the strings that control us are permanent, unable to be manipulated, _his_ alone. He forgets he only has ten fingers. There comes a point when he can only hold so many strings. And what will happen when he drops one? What will happen when someone else picks it up? He knows, but he doesn't _think_. And it's going to get all of us killed.

"I'm sick of him," she finished, turning back over so her nose was nestled in the crook of her lover's neck. "I'm sick of how he uses us without even realizing how he's being used himself. I'm sick of him using _me_. And now he's letting that creep bring outsiders into our world—our world which we worked so hard to create!"

She was crying now, and it startled him. He had never seen her cry before, and he wasn't exactly sure what to do.

_I'm an s-class criminal,_ he thought. _What she needs is a miracle worker. That…I am not._

So he held her, held her close because that's all he knew how to do, and he prayed that that would be enough to keep this woman, the strongest woman he knew, from ripping apart at the seams.

"That Karin girl…she's just going to become Madara's fucktoy, isn't she?" he asked.

She almost laughed at that. "He's got so many fucking fucktoys he doesn't know what the hell to do with them all."

"You'd better watch your mouth, Konan, or you'll start sounding like me," he said, rubbing small circles on her shoulder.

It was a while before she spoke again. "I need to know what the Uchiha's planning. I need to know what he wants with Sasuke. I need to know why he's kept Itachi's body. I need to know…because if I don't, he's going to slit our throats in our sleep.

Her strength was faltering…and it scared him.

The Akatsuki were not afraid of anything.

For Konan to be predicting her own death…and not being able to stop it…

He needed to act. And fast.

"Madara has always looked at me in a…less than favorable light," he said slowly, unsurely. He had never been one to take matters into his own hands. Always the obedient soldier, always the one who took the suicide missions, always the one who came back _(barely)_ alive for another round.

Always the one who never questioned, only did.

But not anymore.

"It's a useful position to be in," he continued, confidence growing in his voice. "He sees me as a brute—damn straight—but he ignores that I'm a hell of a lot smarter than I look. He says things around me that he would tell no one else because he thinks I wouldn't understand even if I gave a shit. So I'll see what I can do. Maybe I can get the fucker to spill a few of his dirty little secrets."

She smiled up at him, brushing her lips gently across his own. "It's always the one whom you least expect that brings you down, mm?"

"Yeah," Hidan murmured, stroking her hair. "Always the least expected."

* * *

**Whew! Who expected that it was Hidan with Konan? I hope that helps explain her decision to help Naruto and Kakashi.**

**Next chapter: what does Madara want with Sasuke…and why did he keep Itachi's body? Who's behind the snakes that Kiba saw? How is Hidan still alive? Where does Karin fit in to the Akatsuki's plans? Will Naruto, Kakashi, and Konan escape the Shinigami? (And what are **_**those**_**, anyway?)**

**Reviews, as always, are appreciated.**

**--Ria **


	3. The Spider

**A/N:** I am…not speed.

Damn.

**Thank-yous go to:** pierrotz, animeaddict19, DarkAngelRakell, ohwhatsherface, you.broke.a.promise, kattylin, haliz, All The Good PenNames Are Gone, Oyuki, cherrilatina, Starry Melody, iChibi, nicolerogersXX, bluflamez, caslspirit15, kazster, pink-strawberries, les-liaisons-dangereuses, 10tealeaf, foxfeather1337, Bloom-san, Veroxion, BrokenAvenger21, Keira U., Moonlit Dreams-Inuzuka, SakuraHaruno570, Silver-Heart377, and dark-yuki-21.

**Warnings:** If you haven't read through manga chapter 402, you're going to get very confused about halfway through…

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Naruto…well…-thinks dirty thoughts about Itachi-

* * *

**Shinigami Headquarters**

**12 November 2014**

**3:00 PM**

It was silent—save for the steady _drop, drop_ of water on the floor as rain trickled through the small hole in the ceiling. Ketueki swore it was for light, but Shikamaru had found little logic in that; the Shinigami didn't need to see. Smell was their forte, scents their drugs, their noses their lives. Sight was merely a useful, if unnecessary, ability, and most Shinigami never opened their eyes, relying solely on their sense of smell to guide their actions. And, in order to blend in, Shikamaru had learned to do the same.

_I'm going to be blind when I get through with this,_ he thought grumpily.

They were gathering now: shadowy figures flickering through the darkness, the stream of light occasionally catching the jagged edge of a cloak or the smooth curve of a mask. Shikamaru sighed and donned his as well, wrapping the thin black fabric tightly around him and pulling the porcelain mask down over his face. Now, he was nothing but a phantom, a hallucination flitting about on the edges of awareness. He shivered, tightening his hold on his cloak. He needed all the warmth he could get in this ungodly place.

"Attention!"

He stiffened immediately, as though ice had been poured into his veins. His knees crouched of their own volition, and he swept his arm in front of him, his head bowed like, he imagined, a vampire's before it sprang on a victim. He chuckled softly to himself. _But that's what I've become, isn't it?_

And Saratoshi Kenueki, Dracula himself, swept into the room.

Kenueki was tall, but not to the point where he seemed overpowering. He had a thick swatch of black hair, which he kept neatly combed, and five small black studs decorated his left ear. Unlike his subordinates', Kenueki's mask covered only his eyes. He never took it off; some claimed that his eyes were a brilliant green while others swore that they were cold, dark, and sadistic. Shikamaru preferred the explanation that he had no eyes but kept this to himself. Most of the time, he found Saratoshi Kenueki to be somewhat of a pompous, overconfident asshole, but there were moments when the Shinigami leader's actions caused a cold bead of sweat to run down his neck, and he could sense that the man behind the mask was much crueler, much more malicious than he usually appeared.

Kenueki waved his guards away, and instantly the soft shuffling stopped. Silence reigned once again as the Shinigami waited for their leader to speak.

"So," he said finally, his voice penetrating yet barely above a whisper, "they are coming."

No one made a sound, but Shikamaru could sense the rush of adrenaline spreading throughout the room and the thump, thump of racing heartbeats. Bloodlust was in the air, and though his senses were not nearly as fine-tuned as those of the others, he thought—_maybe_—that he could pick up a whiff of the iron-tinged scent the Shinigami sought so fervently.

_They,_ he thought. _Who are "they"? The Resistance? Escaped prisoners? Kami, let it not be one of us…not one of us…_

"You have smelt them," Kenueki continued, moving among his followers, every swish of his cloak revealing the gleaming metal of the swords hidden underneath. "You have eagerly awaited their approach. Now, they choose to reveal themselves. Now, they come for what we have taken."

He stopped suddenly, and from underneath the black fabric of his mask, his eyes seemed to pierce directly through Shikamaru's own.

"Never has the need for serving of the cause been so great."

He smiled, the beam of light from the hole in the ceiling falling on one gleaming white fang.

"What are we?"

They recited the words slowly, smoothly, like ink dripping from the shards of a broken bottle.

"We are shadows. We are darkness made flesh. We are warriors."

"What is our purpose?"

"We exist to purify the earth, to preserve order, and to ensure loyalty. We exist to create an Eden where strength, skill, and power reign supreme."

"What do we seek?"

"We seek the blood of the weak—the blood of links in the chain that have rusted beyond repair. We seek the blood of the guilty, the resistant, and the damned."

"Whom do we serve?"

"We serve no one but our Kage, our master, and our lust for justice."

"What are we?"

"We are the Shinigami, the feared, the fallen angels, the messengers of Death himself, and we are bound by blood to serve until he tells us our time has come."

Kenueki unsheathed his katana and raised it high, becoming the image of a warlord calling his troops to battle.

"To the rooftops! Patrol Six has caught their trail, but remember that the enemy has tricks of their own. Trust your senses, and may the chain remain strong!"

"May the chain remain strong!"

"May the chain remain strong!"

Shikamaru smirked as he felt for the pouch secured out of sight underneath his cloak. He had two kunai, five shuriken, a spool of string, and a small round charm, perfectly smooth save for the engraving of a leaf chiseled into the front. His fingers tightened around it.

It would be enough.

_I have everything to gain, and everything to lose._

_May my resolve not fail me._

_May my flame never die._

"May the chain," he said, ascending to the roof, "remain strong."

**xXx**

**The All-Seeing Eye**

**--Chapter 3--**

"_**Oh, what a tangled web we weave...that is, unless we know the key to its unraveling."**_

**xXx**

**Outskirts of Konoha**

**5 April 2013**

**7:46 AM**

Sakura's eyes narrowed as she sped through the forest, concentrating on the glimmer of chakra she had latched onto. Whoever was masking it had done an excellent job, considering that he had managed to cover the snakes' chakra and his own, but in such a big job, there was bound to be a flaw. And finding such flaws was Sakura's specialty.

"Left!" she barked, and she felt the shift in the wind as the two shinobi behind her swerved to follow.

Because the nature of the attack was unknown, Naruto had sent four three-man jounin teams to investigate. Sakura found herself paired with Kakashi and Sai, which suited her just fine; with Sasuke gone and Naruto consumed with his new responsibilities as hokage, Sakura had found herself spending more and more time with her former sensei and the newest member of Team 7. They had formed close friendships, and it wasn't uncommon to see Kakashi spend the night at Sakura's apartment after she finished healing him from a mission or for Sai to meet his pink-haired teammate for ramen and a discussion of his progress on developing emotions (which was never very good, but Sakura kept her hopes up).

Still, her new bonds couldn't reconcile the ones lost (and she was still hurting, though she hated to admit it) when Sasuke had deposited her on a bench with two softly spoken words of goodbye.

It had been nearly three years since she had seen him again…and then he had tried to kill her.

Experiences like that tended to change people.

She found that it hurt less when she kept busy. She flew from the hospital to the Academy to Naruto's office to the training grounds to her apartment, where she grabbed a few hours of much-needed sleep before she set off again. She had worked herself once to the point of fainting during a mission report; she had woken up in her bed with Kakashi by her side, a paternal tone in his voice as he told her that he had cleared her schedule, and why didn't she take it easy for a few days. She had used the time to study up on chakra-sensing, as she had heard that Sasuke had recruited a new teammate who specialized in that area, and she was not about to be replaced by some skank Sasuke found working in a back room.

And now, her skills were paying off. The small spark of chakra was getting stronger; they must be close.

And then she caught a whiff of something she had not smelled in years, something that, had it not so entranced her when she was younger, she would surely have not have so quickly placed with a name.

_No. Please, no._

"Kakashi," she said sharply, "are you wearing new cologne?"

The silver-haired jounin raised his one visible eyebrow, letting her know what he thought of her question.

She shook her head. "Nevermind. Sai?"

He turned. "What, Ugly?"

"Are you...oh, forget it. Who am I kidding? Your gender is questionable; why would I think that you wore cologne?"

She was rambling, and she knew it. She was being cruel, and she knew it. In fact, she was doing everything possible to keep her mind off of…

"Kami…"

"Hey, I know you!"

_Sasuke._

He perched, menacing, on the head of the largest snake she'd ever seen. He was dressed all in black save for his sword, which gleamed razor-sharp silver at his side. The wind whipped his hair, black as midnight against an alarmingly blue sky. He was tall—taller than she remembered—and his body was leaner, fitter, _older_. The boy she had once known was gone; in his place stood a hardened man, a man who radiated darkness and ill-will, a man whose stance showed an indomitable determination that nothing, nothing would get in his way.

He did not see her, though she knew her presence could not have gone unnoticed. He was looking to the west, looking in the direction she had come, his eyes smoldering as they fell upon the village he had left behind, the village that, she noticed, he was heading straight for.

Sasuke raised his hand, murmured a few well-chosen words, and waited.

_BOOM._

A serpent burst from the ground, blinked its yellow eyes, and slithered forward. It was then that she saw that the forest floor was positively _writhing_ with snakes, and though she had never been afraid of them, she could not suppress a shudder as she looked upon the shadow of her childhood friend and the army he had brought with him.

_This was not how I imagined his return._

"Wait," she said, her voice betraying none of the chaos in her head. Kakashi may have been the leader of their team, but this was her mission.

This was her time.

"Sasuke!"

Now he turned, and green met charred embers burning with a lust for destruction.

"Sakura."

* * *

**Akatsuki Hideout**

**30 March 2013**

**8:32 AM**

"I see you're up early."

Sasuke scowled, activating his Sharingan as he glared at the only other man alive to possess them in both eyes. Madara wore a simple shirt and pair of pants, both black, and his dark hair was unkempt, making him look like he'd just rolled out of bed. He appeared plain, simple, unthreatening—but Sasuke knew he was anything but.

The younger Uchiha stopped mid-push-up and sat up, crossing his legs. "Sleep is an annoyance I avoid whenever possible."

Madara joined him on the floor—probably, Sasuke thought, so that he didn't appear too imposing _(oh, what does he _want_ already)_. "Don't disregard it so thoroughly. Sleep is a valuable weapon. You can know all the jutsu in the world, but if you're tired, you won't be able to concentrate enough to use them."

_He has a point_, Sasuke thought grudgingly, but he chose to ignore it. "Hn."

Madara ran a hand through his short hair. "Regardless. I didn't come down here to talk to you about your sleeping habits. I had…something else in mind."

Sasuke grunted. "I figured as much."

"I have a proposition for you."

The friendly innocence in Madara's voice was gone, replaced by a thin, firm tone that warned the listener against crossing him. Sasuke met his eyes, which now spiraled with the three tomoe of the Sharingan. He was on his offensive, and he radiated intimidation, but for now, he was waiting, choosing not to attack until the right moment came.

_Very well_, Sasuke thought. _Two can play at this game._

"What makes you think," he began, "that I would want to work with you?"

"Did I say that?" Madara asked.

"You didn't need to."

Madara stood and began pacing. "Have you thought at all about what I told you about Itachi?"

"Hn," Sasuke replied. He had thought about it—quite a lot, in fact. To be honest, the whole thing was somewhat disconcerting. Here he was, believing that his older brother was a cold-blooded killer, and then Madara came along with a story about how in fact, Itachi had sacrificed his own innocence for duty, had destroyed himself in order to maybe, somehow, save his little brother.

_I am beyond saving._

"How am I to know," he finally said, "that that wasn't just an elaborate lie?"

"Whether it is or not, you want to believe it," Madara said. "A perfect home, a perfect family, a perfect career, a perfect wife, perfect children—a perfect life. That's all little Sasuke ever wanted, isn't it?"

"Your tone takes on an impertinence I do not like," Sasuke replied gruffly.

Madara ignored him. "Now that you've completed your life's work…what will you do now? Go back to Konoha and attempt to recreate the dreams of childhood? Go back to Konoha and live a perfect _lie_? Because you know it would be."

Madara crouched and met Sasuke's eyes, blood on blood, scarlet fury on shadows of the past. "You can't escape what you've become. You can't expect this path to end and a new one to appear before you. Let me tell you something, Sasuke: revenge never ends.

"Can you really go back there when they killed your father, your mother, everyone you cared about, and then ripped your brother to shreds? Can you really go back there and pretend that it never happened? Because if you can, you're more cold-hearted than I thought."

Sasuke was shaking, his knuckles white as he clenched and unclenched his fists. "You know _nothing_ about me."

"You can believe that if you wish," Madara said, shrugging. "But I would beg to differ."

He turned, his hand reaching for the doorknob. "I don't think you're going to talk to me anymore today, and that's understandable. You've been through a lot lately; perhaps you need more time. But when you are ready to rejoin the living, here's what I propose."

"I don't want to hear it," Sasuke said tersely, turning away.

"You don't want to hear about how to make Konoha bleed for what it did to your family, to _you_? You don't want to hear about how to finally achieve the closure you're longing for so deeply? You don't want to hear about how to restore Uchiha to its former glory—and maybe, along the way, achieve the eyes only three people have ever possessed?"

_Click_.

Sasuke met Madara's eyes, bangs falling to cover his own, but the interest in his voice was unmistakable. "Repeat that."

Madara spoke, and his voice was barely a whisper.

"Do you want the Mangekyou, Sasuke?"

* * *

**Konoha Stadium**

**12 November 2014**

**3:00 PM**

"Amaterasu!"

The flames shot, black as soot, from his eyes, licking hungrily at the wall of his cell. He waited.

_You've tried that three times already,_ his mind chided him. _What makes you think it will work now? Face it: he's gotten the best of you. Now you must pay for your lack of foresight._

_Payment…_

_That's all my life has been, really, hasn't it? Payment for one thing or another. Payment for his crimes. Payment for his lies. Payment for my inability to recognize either one of them._

Red eyes rose to the ceiling, wishing, hoping, that the answers would appear.

What came instead was unexpected.

The door to his cell clicked open.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the man said, "are you ready to die?"

Sasuke looked up through dark bangs, his hair having grown long in the absence of anything to cut it with. He imagined he looked a little like his brother. The thought was not comforting.

"You have lost your sense of time, jailor," he said slowly, his voice low, menacing. "I will see one more sunrise before my time comes."

"Hmph," the jailor grunted, reaching into his pocket, Sasuke assumed, for one of Karin's chakra seals. "The sunrises are no more, for the dust blocks them from view."

"I see what I want to see," Sasuke replied, standing. "But that is no excuse for your inability to tell today from tomorrow."

The jailor smirked. "You've heard the cheering. What did you think was happening?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. _But why…_

"He's moved it up," he said solemnly.

The jailor merely nodded.

Sasuke turned around, exposing his bare back to the man's waiting hands. "Go ahead."

"No sedative?" the jailor asked jokingly, preparing the seal for application.

"I can deal with the pain." _And I want to be fully awake when it happens, to see him smile when I die, to see the pain in her eyes as she sits by his side…_

_Sakura…_

_I'm so sorry._

"Three seconds," the jailor warned him.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and waited.

The pain was immense, rocking his entire body as his chakra was forced away, preventing him from ever using it again—that is, unless someone was able to undo the seal. And all the people who knew how were dead—save one.

_He will make her watch, knowing the pain it will cause her is greater than any he has made her feel before. He will make her watch…because it will hurt me._

_I wanted to save her before I died. I wanted to save them all…because I am an avenger. And there is one more thing left to avenge._

The jailor released him, and he crumpled to the floor, clutching his arm in fake agony. He pressed his fingers to the tattoo on his shoulder—the tattoo that, he knew, Naruto also bore.

_If the dobe is alive…kami, I'm trusting my future to the dobe…_

He pressed on the red circle once, twice, thrice.

"Come," said the jailor, and Sasuke rose one final time.

* * *

**Akatsuki Hideout**

**30 March 2013**

**10:11 AM**

"Is the operation complete?"

"Yes, Lord Madara."

"Let me see."

The medic-nin pulled back the sheet, revealing the white-as-death face of Uchiha Itachi. He still wore his Akatsuki robe and his slashed hitai-ate; his body looked, in fact, exactly as Madara had found it, except for the bandage covering the upper half of his face.

"And the eyes?"

"Replaced with those of an underling. Black, no doujutsu. Exactly as my lord requested."

"The Sharingan?"

"Destroyed."

"Perfect," Madara said, obviously pleased. "Almost too perfect, in fact. Such a perfect job almost begs for replication, and we can't have that, can we?"

The medic-nin began to speak, but was stopped short as Madara stabbed a kunai through his throat. He fell to the ground, blood spurting onto the otherwise impeccably clean equipment.

"Ugh," Madara said, wiping the kunai off on his robe. "Such a messy business, killing. This will have to be cleaned up later. Right now…we have more pressing matters at hand. Come."

He picked up Itachi's body and began walking. Pein and Karin followed.

They walked deep, deep into the base, far past anywhere that Karin had been before. The walls turned from modern concrete to slick limestone, lamps casting an eerie glow off the faces of the rock. Karin shivered, the air growing colder the farther they went. Finally, Madara stopped.

"Here we are."

They stood in a small room—a dead end, it appeared, though Karin knew her master well enough to know that there must be other exits. It was empty, save for two long boxes set up against the far wall. One was closed. One was not.

"Hey…that's…"

"Deidara," Pein finished. "You cannot imagine how hard it was recovering all the pieces of his body."

"Then why…"

Pein turned to Madara. He nodded.

"I believe now is the best time, Karin," Pein began, "to fill you in on at least some of our plans."

"You see," Madara said, "while the nine-tailed beasts are indeed…desirable to have, their actions are extremely difficult to control. Even I have trouble with just one. Nine is out of the question."

"So we had to find a way to make them manageable," Pein cut in.

"And this is it. Demons are one thing. Jinchuuriki…are another matter indeed."

"So you're creating new jinchuuriki," Karin reasoned. "But why go to all that trouble? Why not just bring the current jinchuuriki under your control?"

Pein chuckled. "Have you met the Kyuubi brat, Karin? Have you seen how unbelievably stupid he is? No. Better to go with people who are already on our side and are at least remotely intelligent. It's quicker and much likelier to work out."

"You underestimate Uzumaki, Pein," Madara said, his tone dark. "He and his friends' insistence upon meddling in matters that do not concern them put the first kink in our plans."

Karin nodded. "The Akatsuki started dying."

"Pity, really," Pein said, though he sounded anything but pitiful. "Good soldiers are in short supply these days. Only one thing was to be done: if at all possible, they would have to be brought back to life."

"Fortunately, all Sasori needed was a new heart, and those are, thankfully, easy to come by." Madara smiled. "As for Hidan and Kakuzu, you didn't think that a genin and a chuunin, no matter how talented, actually managed to kill them, did you? Oh no. They were very much alive when we found them. Critically injured, yes, but very much alive."

"However, Deidara presented a real problem. He was made of flesh, not wood; he needed not only one new organ but an entire new body. So, as you know, we asked you to do some experimentation…"

"…and I found that a demon can give a corpse new life, albeit not much of one," Karin finished. "The body breathes, but the thoughts are the demon's alone."

"Which is why we removed Itachi's Sharingan and Deidara's…abnormalities," Pein explained. "Even though they may technically be under our control, the bijou have minds of their own. We cannot have them running around in bodies with abilities that could be used to our disadvantage."

"And there you have it: the tools with which we will destroy Konoha," Madara said. "As soon as the collection of the tailed beasts is complete, we will insert each into an Akatsuki member—you too, of course, now that you are one—and our invasion can commence."

"How many do you have now?"

"Eight."

"So that means…"

"…the only one left to get…"

"…is Naruto."

* * *

**Next chapter: Konan, Kakashi, and Naruto meet up with their first enemies…the mysterious Resistance appears, much to the shock of the Shinigami…Sasuke's execution draws closer…Sakura confronts Sasuke…Sasuke makes a decision about Madara's proposition…**

**Reviews, as always, are appreciated.**

**--Ria **


End file.
